Mariah Stewart - Hard Truth

She shook her head. “I like my coffee straight.”

“Well, I’ll be interested in hearing what your guy finds out. If you’re willing to share, that is.”

“He’s not my guy yet. I haven’t officially hired him. I was still thinking it over, but now, with this latest find, I’ll go ahead with it. And as far as sharing information is concerned, it’s all going to come out, sooner or later. Either now or at Mrs. Eagan’s trial.”

“Well, if you need anything, anything at all, you give me a buzz, hear?”

“I will. And say, your backyard looks gorgeous. I can’t believe you still have so many roses blooming, this late in the summer.”

“Yeah, how ’bout it?” He beamed proudly. “I’ve spent a lot of time out there, watering, battling the Japanese beetles, black spot, mildew, aphids, you name it. But Mom always managed to keep the roses going right into the fall, so I feel obligated to do the same.”

“Well, you’re doing a great job.”

“Thanks. I’ll bring you some one of these days.”

She started up to the cash register and he waved her away.

“I told you, it’s on the house.”

“Just for today.”

“We’ll see.” He squeezed her arm. “Great to see you, Lorna.”

“Good to see you, too, Fritz.”

He held the door open for her and she walked out just in time to see the county ME ’s car go by.

She drove back to the farm, hoping that the remains would be identified soon. If the bones were bare, no tissue left on them, it could be some time before they knew the identity of the second person buried in the Palmers’ field.

Or Palmers Woods, as the sign pronounced.

The person could even be a few hundred years old, she rationalized. There had been skirmishes here during the American Revolution. Or perhaps it was a Native American. There were settlements all along the river, and every child who grew up in Callen knew that the road that wound past the farm and through town had once led to the old Baltimore Pike. Or the body they’d found in the field that morning could have been a traveler who took ill and died along the wayside. Whoever had found him could have buried him right then and there, depending on the circumstances. Sure, it could have happened that way, she told herself as she dug into her nutritious breakfast of coffee and a napoleon, which she was happy to discover lived up to its hype.

It could be coincidental that the remains just happened to have been buried in the same field as Jason Eagan, maybe hundreds of years apart. A lot of things must have been buried in these fields over the centuries. Best not to jump to conclusions.

She tried to hold that thought as she climbed the ladder to the old hayloft and watched out the barn window. A small crowd of police officers, rescue-squad members, and county personnel hovered around the site. It didn’t take her long to figure out that sitting there wasn’t going to get her anything except hot and irritated. The temperature in the loft was at least ten degrees higher than it was in the house. There was absolutely nothing to be gained by staying there. She wasn’t going to see a thing. Better to use the time constructively.

She glanced at her watch. It was almost nine. Time to go to work, anyway. She climbed down the ladder, startling the cats who’d ventured out to peer at her. She closed the barn door behind her and went back to the house.

Her cell phone was ringing but she couldn’t remember where she’d left it. By the time she recalled it was in her handbag, the ringing had stopped. She checked the screen, but the number was private.

She grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and turned on her computer. She’d started the billings for the Cut ’n Curl yesterday, and had promised the owner of the hair salon she’d have them to him by noon today. Like most salons, Cut ’n Curl was closed on Mondays, but the owner went in to catch up on paperwork and restock inventory.

At eleven-forty she called her client to let him know the file was on its way. The machine answered and Lorna left a message. She hung up and forwarded the work via email. He emailed back his thanks, with a reminder that she was overdue for a cut.

She stretched and decided a break was in order, and that the best use of the break would be to call Andrea and Rob and let them know what was going on. Besides, the chief had asked her to. If either of them had any recollections that could help his investigation, maybe he’d forgive her PI-and therefore her-for that fax from the FBI.

That reminded her that she still had to call T.J. and talk to him about his fee and about how much investigation she would have him do.

Andrea first.

She ended up leaving a message for her sister to call her. She didn’t think voice mail was the way to deliver the news.

Rob’s phone rang and rang. Finally, he answered just when she was expecting to hear a recording.

“ ‘Lo?” he rasped.

“Robbie, it’s Lorna.” When he didn’t respond, she added, “Your sister.”

“I know who you are, thanks,” he said flatly. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Oops.

“It’s eight forty-five out there, by my calculations.”

“Middle of the night,” he muttered.

“Rob, I’m sorry for waking you, but I just called Andi and she wasn’t home, so I thought I’d try you. I’m sorry. Want me to call back?”

“Why? So you can wake me again?”

“I said I was sorry.” She bit her tongue. Same old Rob. “Don’t you have to get up for work, anyway?”

“I’m sorta between jobs right now. So what do you want?” he grumbled.

“Rob, last week, they found Jason Eagan’s remains. In our back field.” She explained how the backhoe had uncovered the grave.

“Jason Eagan, eh? There’s a name out of the past.” Rob yawned. “They say how he died?”

“Blunt trauma to the head, front and back.”

“Cracked his skull, huh?” He was starting to wake up. “Well, no sympathy here. Jason was a mean bastard. He used to scare all the little kids.”

“This morning they found the remains of someone else.”

“Who?”

“We don’t know yet. The medical examiner has the body now. I’m sure there will be a full-scale investigation.”

“All this on our farm, eh?”

“All this on what used to be our farm. Both skeletons were found in the section Mom sold off.”

Rob changed the subject abruptly. “Speaking of which, what’s happening with the sale of the rest of it? I could use my share of the proceeds.”

“Rob, I told you it wasn’t going to happen overnight. For one thing, before we can sell the property, we have to have it appraised. Then we have to talk to a couple of Realtors and find out what’s the best way to sell it. Do we sell as one parcel, or do we try to have it subdivided?”

“We sell for the most money, as soon as we can. I told you, I’m between jobs right now.”

“Well, then, since you’re not working, why don’t you hop on a plane and get yourself out here and give me a hand? There’s a whole houseful of stuff here to be sorted through, furniture, things that have been in the family for generations. The house has to be cleaned out-”

“Just sell it all,” he interrupted her. “Get someone in there to buy it all, and be done with it.”

“Gran had a lot of fine collections, Rob. She had all that cranberry glass, she had carnival glass, she had-”

He cut her off. “I don’t care about that stuff, not any of it. Just get rid of it all.”

“It’s not that easy. For one thing, we need to have an appraisal for the estate, and we haven’t done that yet.”

“What are you waiting for?”

“Excuse me, but I work every day. I have a business to run.”